The iPhone and the Curiosity Rover: Specs Compared

They might seem thousands of miles apart, but the iPhone and the rover have a lot in common.

The "iPhone 5" (which probably won't be called that) and the Mars Curiosity rover are the two hottest tech topics on the Internet right now. The Mars mission is a breathtaking example of human accomplishment, bringing us up-to-the-minute photos and brand-new knowledge about an alien planet. It's the most complex, most powerful device we've ever landed on another planet.

The iPhone, on the other hand, is a cell phone. But many people will be able to buy one (there's only one Curiosity) and it'll affect its owners' day-to-day lives in immediate ways. According to the latest rumors, the next iPhone is likely to be announced on September 12 and will feature a larger, 4-inch screen; 4G LTE networking; and a smaller dock connector. (For more details, check out our iPhone 5 rumor roundup.)

It's not at all ridiculous to compare the iPhone to the Mars rover. They're both wireless, connected multimedia computers that are shooting images and transmitting data through space. Curiosity is built to survive extreme conditions; the iPhone is built to survive your pocket. Consumer technology has borrowed innovations like CMOS camera sensors from the space program for decades. The trade goes both ways now, with the space program leveraging components tested in the market. Curiosity's operating system, for instance, is on many common home wireless routers.

Curiosity is chock-full of scientific instruments you won't find on a consumer product (like its megawatt laser), but consumer smartphones are regularly used to analyze scientific data. Government-funded scientists have turned iPhones into microscopes and spectrometers using add-on lenses and custom apps.

Some of the similarities between the two devices can be surprising. Did you know, for instance, that Curiosity runs on a CPU once used by Apple? And that the iPhone has been to space? Click through our spec comparison to find out how Curiosity and the iPhone compare on their technologies.